It's time for another update!
Praise God! We're all alive and doing great! There are so many wonderful blessings to praise God for it's hard to know where to start. This last season of ministry here in Perm has been so very busy. All through these winter months our schedules have been filled with a variety of ministry events. Here is just a small taste of what our hands have been busy with.
On December 15th we had to renew our visa registration which required us to leave the country. Some friends let us stay in a European time-share they have in Finland. It was amazing! The country was much like the USA, clean convenient and beautiful. Our cabin was located on one of the many islands in the famous Finland Archipelago. Over all, the trip was a much-needed time of refreshment.
We returned to Russia just in time for Christmas and the New Year. As soon as we returned Christmas shopping began. It was wonderful. Our house was filled with home made snowflakes, paper chains, and our small 2-1/2 ft Christmas tree had an assortment of home made ornaments on it. Eventually a number of presents collected under the tree and by Christmas morning Elias found an exciting array of gifts in the living room. Rayma and Sarah put together an incredible Christmas dinner and we finished the night with some fireworks in the local park.
Much of Russia doesn't celebrate Christmas as we know it, and the Orthodox day for Christmas is the 7th of January. Still, the church wanted to take advantage of our American heritage and begged us to have a western Christmas party on the 24th. We agreed, and decided to meet for a time of worship, testimonies, fellowship, gift exchange and a comedic reenactment of the Christmas story in Luke. It was a huge encouragement to everyone and for some the only true taste of Christmas they have ever known.
The week after New Year's I left to go to Moscow for a Calvary Chapel pastor's conference. Peter, who many of you know is a key leader in our church, was able to accompany me. We had a great time of fellowship both on the train and at the conference. I met most of the other Calvary pastors in Russia and gained a great deal of resources, wisdom and vision for the work that God is doing in our city.
Many of you already know that we just recently hosted our first Calvary women's conference here in Perm. 90 women came from all over Russia to participate in this event. We had women from Omsk, Nishni, Birsk, Kirov, Novisebirsk, Moscow, and of course Perm. A team of 20 American women came to bless and serve the women at the conference. Debbie Bryson was the main speaker and Sherri Youngward led the women in worship. 7 or 8 of these American women were pastor's wives who came from all sorts of different places like North Carolina, New Jersey, Colorado, California, Oregon and more. Rayma had a number of opportunities to connect with most of these pastor's wives and it was a huge encouragement for her.
In fact our own pastor's wife, Marleen Smith, came from McMinnville to join these ladies in ministry. We were so encouraged to see her again and receive all the love and blessings from our church back in McMinnville. Twenty girls/ladies attended from our church here in Perm and at one point they all gathered in Marleen's room for prayer and encouragement. Everyone from Perm declared the conference an amazing success and all are already looking forward to next year.
Elias continues to beam with constant excitement and joy. We are amazed at his adventurous spirit and continual laughter. He's been blessed with exceptional health to this point and is growing in so many ways. Rayma has been going through a number of different workbooks with him; his hunger to learn increases with every hour.
Rayma and Sarah continue to have a very successful ladies fellowship every Sunday night. The young women at this meeting are so in love with Rayma and Sarah. Every Sunday night at 5:50 PM the doorbell rings and the apartment explodes with laughter, prayer, hugs, kisses and more. We haven't yet told the girls of Sarah's impending return to the states in May; but we are confident it will not be taken lightly.
As I write this letter it is –30 C outside however winter will soon be passed. March is still pretty cold here but sooner than we know the snow will be melting and our first summer in Perm will begin. We're excited about the many ministry plans the Lord has been preparing for us. This summer looks to be full of all sorts of exciting future ministry and will be a huge mile marker in the ministry but we will save all that for another update. We plan on sending out another letter in a couple of weeks with detailed prayer requests and future plans. Please keep watching our web Blog site (daveandrayma.com) for new pictures and stories.
Your Missionaries,
Dave, Rayma, & Elias
Along with our sweet sister Sarah
P.S. Our email list was lost last month. If your address has changed or if you know someone who would like our updates please let us know.
Praise God! We're all alive and doing great! There are so many wonderful blessings to praise God for it's hard to know where to start. This last season of ministry here in Perm has been so very busy. All through these winter months our schedules have been filled with a variety of ministry events. Here is just a small taste of what our hands have been busy with.
On December 15th we had to renew our visa registration which required us to leave the country. Some friends let us stay in a European time-share they have in Finland. It was amazing! The country was much like the USA, clean convenient and beautiful. Our cabin was located on one of the many islands in the famous Finland Archipelago. Over all, the trip was a much-needed time of refreshment.
We returned to Russia just in time for Christmas and the New Year. As soon as we returned Christmas shopping began. It was wonderful. Our house was filled with home made snowflakes, paper chains, and our small 2-1/2 ft Christmas tree had an assortment of home made ornaments on it. Eventually a number of presents collected under the tree and by Christmas morning Elias found an exciting array of gifts in the living room. Rayma and Sarah put together an incredible Christmas dinner and we finished the night with some fireworks in the local park.
Much of Russia doesn't celebrate Christmas as we know it, and the Orthodox day for Christmas is the 7th of January. Still, the church wanted to take advantage of our American heritage and begged us to have a western Christmas party on the 24th. We agreed, and decided to meet for a time of worship, testimonies, fellowship, gift exchange and a comedic reenactment of the Christmas story in Luke. It was a huge encouragement to everyone and for some the only true taste of Christmas they have ever known.
The week after New Year's I left to go to Moscow for a Calvary Chapel pastor's conference. Peter, who many of you know is a key leader in our church, was able to accompany me. We had a great time of fellowship both on the train and at the conference. I met most of the other Calvary pastors in Russia and gained a great deal of resources, wisdom and vision for the work that God is doing in our city.
Many of you already know that we just recently hosted our first Calvary women's conference here in Perm. 90 women came from all over Russia to participate in this event. We had women from Omsk, Nishni, Birsk, Kirov, Novisebirsk, Moscow, and of course Perm. A team of 20 American women came to bless and serve the women at the conference. Debbie Bryson was the main speaker and Sherri Youngward led the women in worship. 7 or 8 of these American women were pastor's wives who came from all sorts of different places like North Carolina, New Jersey, Colorado, California, Oregon and more. Rayma had a number of opportunities to connect with most of these pastor's wives and it was a huge encouragement for her.
In fact our own pastor's wife, Marleen Smith, came from McMinnville to join these ladies in ministry. We were so encouraged to see her again and receive all the love and blessings from our church back in McMinnville. Twenty girls/ladies attended from our church here in Perm and at one point they all gathered in Marleen's room for prayer and encouragement. Everyone from Perm declared the conference an amazing success and all are already looking forward to next year.
Elias continues to beam with constant excitement and joy. We are amazed at his adventurous spirit and continual laughter. He's been blessed with exceptional health to this point and is growing in so many ways. Rayma has been going through a number of different workbooks with him; his hunger to learn increases with every hour.
Rayma and Sarah continue to have a very successful ladies fellowship every Sunday night. The young women at this meeting are so in love with Rayma and Sarah. Every Sunday night at 5:50 PM the doorbell rings and the apartment explodes with laughter, prayer, hugs, kisses and more. We haven't yet told the girls of Sarah's impending return to the states in May; but we are confident it will not be taken lightly.
As I write this letter it is –30 C outside however winter will soon be passed. March is still pretty cold here but sooner than we know the snow will be melting and our first summer in Perm will begin. We're excited about the many ministry plans the Lord has been preparing for us. This summer looks to be full of all sorts of exciting future ministry and will be a huge mile marker in the ministry but we will save all that for another update. We plan on sending out another letter in a couple of weeks with detailed prayer requests and future plans. Please keep watching our web Blog site (daveandrayma.com) for new pictures and stories.
Your Missionaries,
Dave, Rayma, & Elias
Along with our sweet sister Sarah
P.S. Our email list was lost last month. If your address has changed or if you know someone who would like our updates please let us know.
posted by Mark Armstrong | 9:08 AM
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